grovel

Meaning

1. To be prone on the ground.
2. To crawl.
3. To abase oneself before another person.
4. To be slavishly nice to someone or apologize in the hope of securing something.
5. To take pleasure in mundane activities.

Synonyms

crawl

creep

fawn

cringe

cower

truckle

crouch

kowtow

demean

deign

entreat

flatter

flinch

formicate

lie down

lower oneself

prostrate

roll

servile

sneak

stoop

toady

demean oneself

trundle

welter

wheedle

worm

🪱

humble oneself

rush at

bow low

abase oneself

fall into swoon

adulate

beg

bootlick

claw

climb

coax

condescend

dawdle

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: *grovelen

Cognate with Old Norse: á grufu

Cognate with Scots: grovel

Cognate with German: grübeln

Cognate with Norwegian Nynorsk: gruvla

Cognate with Western Frisian: groebeltsje

Cognate with Dutch: grobbelen

In summary

From Middle English *grovelen, from Old Norse grufla, grœfla (“to grovel”), from Proto-Germanic *grubilōną (“to dig, delve into”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrebʰ‑ (“to dig, scrape, scrabble, scratch”); akin to Old Norse á grufu (“on one's belly”) ( > Old Norse grúfa (“to lie face down, grovel”)). Cognate with Scots grovel, gruvil (“to grovel”), German grübeln (“to meditate, ponder”), Norwegian Nynorsk gruvla (“to grovel”). Compare also West Frisian groebeltsje (“to make a mess, skip school, skive”), Dutch grobbelen (“to grope, root, grub”).